


Domino Effect

by wedolikeitrough



Category: Will & Grace
Genre: Angst, Canon Bisexual Character, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Serious Illness, Will & Grace Revival
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:14:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26665018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wedolikeitrough/pseuds/wedolikeitrough
Summary: After Karen's disappearance, the inseparable friend group fell apart. It wasn't until Will broke his silence that they all came together again to support their friend. For Karen and Grace, it was a chance - maybe their last chance - to speak the truth about their feelings for each other.
Relationships: Grace Adler/Karen Walker
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	Domino Effect

Chapter 1 (Prologue)

Grace

Grace found a routine for herself. A routine that made her get out of bed before noon and made her survive the day until she could let herself fall into bed again. That was what her days were about. Surviving. Breathing. Keeping herself from breaking.

She usually woke up at 8 am - her noisy Schenectady neighbours mowing the lawn as soon as the sun rises wouldn’t allow her to sleep longer anyway - and got up right away before her brain had a chance to start overthinking. Her mornings were spent grocery shopping for the elderly. She did the shopping for at least five households in the neighbourhood. Including Mr. Redwood, the grumpiest of them all. He didn’t like Grace very much when she was a child and it surely hadn’t changed. But he was grateful for her help and always paid her a little extra, even though Grace never asked for any money. She didn’t do it for the money. Most of her neighbours knew her and her family from when she was little and always told her stories she hadn’t heard yet; stories about her mom or dad, Janet or Joyce. And to them she was still the “Adler kid”, as if she wasn’t pushing fifty and never left Schenectady to start a new life in New York. It was like her life in New York never existed. Grace liked to pretend it never existed as well. 

After that she walked dogs for those who had to work during the day, babysat children, did absolutely anything to pass time and to keep herself from being alone in her childhood home and alone with her thoughts. Sometimes her dad would visit her - only if he promised that he would come alone - and they would watch TV together. Grace knew he was worried about her since she flipped out on him when he mentioned Will. She felt bad afterwards but she couldn’t help herself. Thinking about Will would also mean thinking about Jack. And thinking about Jack would mean thinking about Karen. And that was unbearable. 

Sometimes Janet would stop by as well. And instead of making fun of Smudge, they would eat takeout and got cozy on the couch. Grace would listen to Janet telling her about her day or reading her stories from their favourite childhood book. Janet was the one who wanted their dad to sell the house, but now she admitted that she was glad they couldn’t find a buyer. Sometimes the two sisters would smoke together or cook together, which always ended up in chaos since neither of them actually knew what they were doing. It made Grace realise that Janet wasn’t as tough as she always pretended to be. When it came down to it, she was the big sister who protected her after all. Janet didn’t care that Grace quit working as an interior designer. She didn’t look down on her or made stupid comments about her giving up her career or moving back to Schenectady. She didn’t make her feel like a loser. Janet didn’t judge. And she definitely wasn’t the screw up of the family. She was just different and her parents could never understand that. Just like they couldn’t understand Karen…

Even Joyce checked in regularly. That’s how Grace knew her family was really, really worried about her. The younger sister was always busy and Grace and her always butted heads. They really only spoke when the whole family came together. But even Joyce seemed to know that something happened, as she never mentioned Will. When she first called, Grace expected her to gush over Will like she always did, but she just asked how Grace was doing. And she briefly hinted that Grace could call her anytime. They spoke once a week since then, about normal stuff like Joyce selling yet another house as she had gotten quite good at her job. Grace liked that. She didn’t want special treatment; she just wanted everything to be normal. A new old normality.

On that day, Grace got ready for her day as usual. She looked in the mirror, and a tired, slightly pale, almost sickly version of herself looked back. It didn't shock her anymore. She didn’t care and no one here cared. Suddenly her phone rang, and the name that popped up felt like a punch in the stomach. At first she hesitated to pick up, but something inside her told her that she really should pick up. So she did. “Will?,” she asked with her voice breaking a little. It’s been months since she said that out loud. “Grace, you need to come home. It’s about Karen.”

Jack

Jack couldn’t believe his eyes when he checked his bank account one morning and found more money in there than he had ever possessed in his lifetime. Far more, actually. He would never have to ask anyone to buy him stuff ever again. Hell, it was even enough to buy a house for his grandson Skip when he was old enough. At first he thought about not telling anyone, ever. Surely there must have been a mistake. But he felt guilty keeping it to himself, so he told Will who just glared at him with his you’re-really-not-getting-this-look. Karen. It was Karen who left Jack all this money before she vanished. And suddenly it dawned on him that he couldn't just waste it like that. Karen always supported his dream of becoming an actor and since he tried in New York, maybe it was time to try elsewhere. When he asked Estefan if he would move to Los Angeles with him, he immediately agreed. He knew just like Jack that there was nothing keeping them here anymore.

Yes, Will was Jack’s best friend and he never thought he would leave him. But since Karen’s disappearance, everything had changed. Will had become quiet. He didn't want to go out anymore. He preferred takeout over cooking, and he spent his days being there for Grace and making sure her business was still running despite her never setting foot in her office. One day, Will and Jack wanted to bring her breakfast to bed as she hadn’t gotten up the whole day, only to realise that Grace was gone. She only left a letter for Will. That’s how they always communicated in times of crisis. Jack knew that this would hit his best friend harder than anything. Grace was Will’s person; they had spent almost their whole life together. Jack tried everything to cheer his best friend up. He took him to Coco’s hoping they could find some new friends and move on a little bit. But it was like a Domino Effect. Karen vanished, Grace left, and Will was disappearing too. And Jack knew that he had to go or he would be next.

When his phone rang months later and Will was on the line telling him to come home in the most serious tone he had ever hear him speak, he hesitated for a moment. Jack knew that Will would tell him something he absolutely didn’t want to hear. It was Estefan who convinced him that he couldn’t just hide away. So he booked a flight to New York.

When Will opened the door, Jack had to hide the fact that he was shocked seeing his best friend like that. He looked exhausted, tired, like he hadn’t slept in days. 

“What happened,” Jack stammered after hugging him as tight as he could.

“Jack, I think I made a terrible mistake.”

Will

The fact that he finally told the whole story to someone felt like the biggest weight had been lifted off his chest. It was like he could finally breathe again after holding it in for months. And he hated himself for not doing this sooner. For not being straight up with his friends right away. For months he had been trying to convince himself that keeping it to himself was the right thing to do, because Karen had asked him to. Not as a client, but as his friend. He would never forget the seriousness in her eyes when she said: “If you tell Jack or Grace anything about this conversation, I will ruin you, Wilma.”

A small part of him was mad at Karen for putting this burden on him, but when he thought about her situation he couldn’t really be angry. She needed someone to take care of her finances and properties, and she trusted Will to do so. At first Will was confused as to why she was so insistent on keeping Grace and Jack in the dark. They were her friends after all. But when he read the letter Grace had left him, everything made sense. He understood why Karen wouldn't want Grace to know - because they were closer than it seemed and she wouldn’t want to put Grace through all that. And she didn’t want Jack to know because he wouldn’t be able to keep a secret like that from Grace. After some time it had dawned on Will that the right thing to do was to break his promise and tell his friends why Karen left anyway.

“You need to call Grace,” Jack said after processing what Will just dropped on him.

“I did, she’s on her way here. I just don’t know how to tell her. Grace is in love with her.” At this point, Will didn’t consider that Grace might not want Jack to know. He just needed to talk.

“With Karen?”

“Yes. I didn’t know. She didn’t tell me.” He fished for Grace’s lengthy letter that was buried under the paper work - his research on Karen’s whereabouts - that was scattered all over the desk. “After Stan’s divorce Grace tried to help her get back into dating. When Karen got stood up, Grace took her out on a date to cheer her up. Apparently they spent lots of time together since then, but before Grace could tell her how she felt, Karen left,” Will summarised the letter while Jack was still skimming through it.

“But… Grace was with Noah.” 

“I assume Karen was one of the reasons why it didn’t work out.” Will was aware that this was a lot of new information at once. He never suspected Grace to be into Karen either and he spent nights laying awake wondering why Grace wasn’t comfortable telling him about it. It’s not like he would’ve judged her or anything. Sure it was odd, but the more he thought about it the more it made sense to him that Grace had feelings for her. Maybe he could’ve helped her find the courage to tell Karen sooner. Maybe if Karen knew how Grace felt she wouldn’t have left and none of them would be in this situation right now. “I’m sorry, Jack. You’re Karen’s best friend and I should’ve told you right away.”

“You just wanted to keep your promise to Karen. It’s okay, Will. You lasted six months without telling anyone. I can’t imagine how exhausting this must’ve been.” 

It was relieving for Will to know that Jack wasn’t mad at him. “I thought I was doing the right thing.”

“I don’t think there’s a right or wrong in this situation. Have you spoken to Grace at all after she left?”

“No, she asked me not to contact her. I think she was really hurt by Karen leaving and had to find a way for herself to deal with it and move on.” Will was thinking a lot about calling her, but he couldn’t have done anything to make her feel better anyway. He couldn’t have taken away her pain.

“She’s not gonna take this well,” Jack stated.

“No, she isn’t.” She would probably never forgive him for not telling her sooner.

The two were interrupted by a knock on the door. The moment Will was so worried about was here. “What happened to your keys?,” Will asked the lost red head that was standing in the doorway. He could tell that she left abruptly; her hair was tied up in a messy bun and her go-to oversize sweater hid the fact that she wasn’t eating enough.

“I… didn’t want to barge in like that,” Grace said and didn’t bother to put on a fake smile. She seemed tense, incredibly nervous, scared of what Will had to tell her. 

“This is still your home, Gracie.” It hurt him a little that Grace felt the need to knock on her own door.

“Why did you want me to come here?,” Grace almost snapped. Will stepped back to let her in. “Jack? What are you doing here? What’s going on?” 

“Gracie…”

“Will, please, tell me what’s going on!”

He took a deep breath and steadied himself. “Karen asked me not to tell you and I wanted to respect her wishes, but… she’s sick. She left because she got sick.” 

There was an indescribable silence in the apartment. Will tried to follow Grace’s eyes that were looking around the apartment like she was searching for something to hold on to before facing Will again. “What do you mean ‘sick’? Where is she?”

“She was diagnosed with stage two liver cancer when I last spoke to her. She wouldn’t tell me where she was going, but I made some calls and I found her. She’s at a clinic in Vermont.” 

Will saw that Grace’s lips started to tremble like they always did when she was trying to hold back tears. All he wanted to do was to embrace her and tell her that everything would be okay, but he didn’t know that. Also Grace didn’t seem like she wanted to be hugged by Will right now. 

“What clinic? I’m going-“

“We’re all going. Together.”


End file.
